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Vilsack: avian flu in hogs different than cattle

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says the avian influenza confirmed in hogs on a backyard farm operation in Oregon at the end of October is a different variation from the H5N1 that’s been found in cattle.

“It’s not even the same necessarily compared to what we see in the poultry circumstances,” says Vilsack. “We tested poultry and clearly, they had the virus. That led us to test the swine. This was a very small, family farm operation with 70 birds, a couple of pigs and a couple of mini pigs.”

Vilsack says the food supply is safe and at this time, there are no additional precautions large scale hog operations should be taking.

“It’s important to know this happened, but there’s nothing for them to do. Pork producers deal with a variety of viruses on an ongoing basis. They’re very familiar.”

Vilsack says it’s the time of the year for birds to migrate and if the birds stay in one particular area, there’s a chance the virus will continue to spread.

Hear the press conference with Vilsack.